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By Michael Goldman

Updated:
01/08/2013 11:58:58 AM EST

According to Mark Shields, commentator on PBS Newshour, more people have died by gunfire in the United States since the assassination of Robert Kennedy 44 years ago than in every armed conflict our nation has engaged in from the American Revolution to the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The total of those 35 conflicts since 1775: 1,306,026.

The total of gun deaths: Higher.

According to the Center for American Progress, it is easier for a poor person to obtain a gun than for them to receive treatment for mental-health issues.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, people with guns in their homes were at greater risk of dying from a homicide in their home by gunfire than were those without guns in their homes.

According to statistics provided by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in Japan only 11 people were killed with guns in 2008, compared with 12,000 deaths by firearms that year in the United States.

According to author Priscilla Gilman, despite the early indications that Adam Lanza, the murderer of 26 in Newtown, Conn., may have suffered from some version of Asperger's syndrome or autism, neither ailment is a form of mental illness, but rather both are neurodevelopmental disabilities.

According to libertarian Megan McArdle writing for Newsweek, all citizens, including children, ought to be taught how to "gang rush" an active shooter rather than hide and wait for armed assistance.

According to NBC, all 31 pro-gun U.

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S. senators refused invitations to appear on Meet the Press to discuss the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary.

According to Nate Silver in his FiveThirtyEight political blog, if you are a self-identified Democrat there is a 25 percent chance that you'll have a gun in your home, whereas if you are a self-identified Republican there is a 59 percent chance of gun ownership.

According to the Atlanta based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if the current 10-year patterns continue, American gun deaths will exceed deaths in traffic fatalities by the year 2015.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, gun deaths by homicide, suicide or accident in 2010 in the United States numbered 31,328, or eight Americans each and every day.

According to social conservative preacher James Dobson, former Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, and right-wing radio host Bryan Fischer, the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre was a result of "turning our back on God." Specifically, all three referenced women having access to legal abortions and the growing number of states allowing same-sex marriage.

According to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, massive gaps in the FBI Data collection system undercut the effectiveness of the background checks for gun buyers program across the country.

According to Andrew Rosental of the New York Times, the "armed policeman in every school" argument being proposed by the NRA is undercut by the reality that in 1999, highly trained New York City policemen, specifically trained to react to use their weapons in crisis situations, fired 41 shots at an unarmed suspect and still missed him 22 times.

According to IBISWorld, a gun-market-research firm, the sale of firearms and ammunition has grown 5.7 percent a year since 2007, to merely $12 billion this year.

According to the aforementioned CDC, while gun murders are routinely reported, more Americans die each year from gun suicides. In 2009, for example, 11,500 people were killed with a gun used by someone else, while an astonishing 18,000 people killed themselves with a firearm.

According to the Huffington Post, there have been at least 100 people killed in the United States by guns since the 27 deaths in Newtown, Conn.

According to conservative Rush Limbaugh, the NRA showed a lot of "class" by waiting for a week to speak.

According to the conservative New York Daily News, just 90 minutes after a national moment of silence, the "craziest man on earth" blamed everyone and everything for the Newtown, Conn., deaths except the guns.

According to me, let's make 2013 the year we finally fight back against the madness. Working together as a sane and sensible people, let's make 2013 the year the phrase "common-sense gun control" is more than just political rhetoric, but becomes political reality.

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